Rock Island daily Argus., 1887-07-23

~Confound their politics,
TrUstrate their knayish tricks
God save the Queen

~Auen,' said Bessie, but she had her doubts
about the wisdom of that Union Jack which,
whenever the wind blew, streamed out
visible defiance not calculated TO soothe the
breas: of excited patriots.
Indeed, two days after that, a patrol of
three Beers, spying the ensign while yet
long way of, came galloping up in hot haste
to see what 1t meant. Silas saw them com
ing, and, taking his rifle In his hand, went
and stood beneath the flag, for which he had
All almost superstitious veneratlon, feeling
sure that they would not dare to meddle
either with him Or it.
What Is tho meaning of this, ON Silasfr
asked the leader of the three men, with all of
whom be was perfectly acquainted
1t mems that an Englishman lives hers,
Jan, was the answer.
Haul the dirty rag down" said the man
Il will see You d-d first" replied old
Silas
ThereupOu the Boer dismounted and made
for the Flagstaff, only to find Uncle Croft's
rifle III a direct line with his chest
lou will have to shoot me first. Jan" :" be
said and thereon, after some consultation,
they lett him and went away.
he was an Englishman, Silas Croft was very
popular with the Beers, most of whom had
known him since they were children, and q
member Of whose volksraad he had twice
been. 1t was to this personal popularity that
he owed the fact that he was not turned out
of his house and forced to choose between
serving against his countrymen or being i'm
prisoned and otherwise maltreated at the
very commencement of the rebellion
For fortnight or more after this flag episode
nothing of any Importance happened, and
then came the news OF the crushing defeat at
Laings Mex At first Silas Croft would not
believe the news mo general could have
been so mad,' he said; but E)on the report
was amply confirmed from native sources.
Another week passed, and with it came the
news of the British defeat at Ingogo. The
first they heard of it was on the morning of
Feb s, when Jantje brought a kaifir up to
the veranda at breakfast time This kaffir
said that he had been watching the fight from
a mountain; that the English were completely
hemmed in ami fighting well, but that their
arms were tired and that they would all lie
killed at night time. The Beers, he said,
were not suffering at all-tle English could
not shoot straight" After hearing this they
passed a sufficiently miserable day and even
ing. About II O'Clock that night, however,
native SPY Mr. Croft had dispatched came
back with the report that the English general
had got safely back to camp, having suffered
heavily and abandoned his wounded, many of
whom had died Ill the ram, for the night
after the battle was wet
Then came another long pause, during
which no reliable news reached them, though
the air was thick with rumors, and old Silas
was made happy by hearing that large re-en
forcements were on their way from England.
"Ah, Bessie, my dear, they will soon sing
another tune now" he said, in great glee'
'aud what's more, it's about time they did.
| can't understand what the soldiers have
been about can't indeed"
And so the time wore heavily along till at
last there came dreadful day which Bessie
will never forget as long as she lives. 1t was
the Goth of February-just week before the
final disaster at Majuba Hill Bessie was
standing idly on the veranda, looking down
the long avenue of blue gums, where the
shadows formed dark network to catch the
wandering rays of light. The place looked
very peaceful, and certainly no one could
have known from its appearance that
bloody war was being waged within few
miles. The Kaffirs came and went abou1
their work as usual, or made pretense to; bu'
now and then a close observer might see then
stop and look toward the Drakensberg ant
then say few words to their neighbor abou
the wonderful thing that had come to pas